Poker Training

‘Buch’s’ Routine Bluff

A lot of heart

I have a lot of respect for Shawn “Buch” Buchanan’s game. Buch (pronounced “Buck”) is a world-class no-limit hold’em tournament player, and I have faced off against him many times, including when we played at the final table of the WPT Championship event in 2010. One thing that Buch does well is that he plays very aggressively; he plays tight, but aggressively. I mean, Buch has some heart, as he isn’t afraid to make some big bluffs. So, when he has a big winning hand, he wins a big pot. In December, Buch landed at my table in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five-Diamond World Poker Classic event at Bellagio, and I witnessed him play the following hand: With the blinds at 800-1,600 and a 300 ante, Buch opened from middle position for 4,000 with K-J, an opponent called from the small blind, and the player in the big blind was ...